NationStates Jolt Archive

Do you like durian? The spiked, heavy, watermellon sized "King of Fruit" from Thailand/Malaysia?

When I lived in North America in a city with a huge Asian population, I didn't. I thought it stank horribly. But since I moved to South East Asia, I came to love it.

Perhaps it has to do with the lenth of time it takes to get it to the Pacific Coast, as the smell here is different -- "greener", fresher, more like smells I can identify with from my European childhood.

Even over here sometimes, if it is left for too long, it can spoil and stink -- but doesn't every organic matter? Rotten meat, eggs, fish, vegetable, fruit -- ALL these stink and so does durian.

Anyway, even though in Singapore and similar prissy Caucasian-wanna-be upstarts in the region it is banned from the metro and some hotels, the taste is divine.

Especially if you know how to get one that is just ripe, but not yet over-ripe. Then the smell is beautifully intoxicating too, like the best herb liquer...

Eh, anything that smells that horrid is probably not meant to be eaten. To say nothing of the fact it's covered with fucking spikes!

It tastes wonderful -- absolutely divine.

The smell, as I said, is heavy in those countries where it does not grow. In South East Asia it is not.

ferocious, would you kindly correct your clock so that you do not "steal" other people's threads or would it be too much to ask someone like you?

If durian cake is any indication, it tastes like bland apple. With the smell, of course.

It tastes wonderful -- absolutely divine.

The smell, as I said, is heavy in those countries where it does not grow. In South East Asia it is not.

ferocious, would you kindly correct your clock so that you do not "steal" other people's threads or would it be too much to ask someone like you?

It's his thread now, deal with it. Them's the breaks.

No, "durian" cake (0.00003% durian) is NOT an indication of anything.

By the way, after living over here for 3 years, I cannot eat bananas back in Europe and North America.

They smell like chalk over there, those miserable things picked green and carried on a bunch of ice in junks with paper sails down the river to the harbour and unloaded into frozen compartments to be taken on a 2 week trip.

That's the danger of having lived in the tropics. Your taste buds grow so much more accustomed to quality food.


Freezing a banana will ruin it, it has to be shipped between 60-70 degrees. Otherwise it just degenerates into mush.

No, "durian" cake (0.00003% durian) is NOT an indication of anything.

By the way, after living over here for 3 years, I cannot eat bananas back in Europe and North America.

They smell like chalk over there, those miserable things picked green and carried on a bunch of ice in junks with paper sails down the river to the harbour and unloaded into frozen compartments to be taken on a 2 week trip.

That's the danger of having lived in the tropics. Your taste buds grow so much more accustomed to quality food.

No, it's not.

A person who can read can see clearly who started the thread on the list of threads.

Besides, I was teaching him manners. With you -- I won't even bother.

We warp the space time continuum at will. Do not tempt our wrath.

It's his thread now, deal with it. Them's the breaks.

No, it's not.

A person who can read can see clearly who started the thread on the list of threads.

Besides, I was teaching him manners. With you -- I won't even bother.

No, it's not.

A person who can read can see clearly who started the thread on the list of threads.

Besides, I was teaching him manners. With you -- I won't even bother.
Maybe you should get a clue. No one can do anything about when the forum places there posts.

We warp the space time continuum at will. Do not tempt our wrath.

Hahahaha

It's so refreshing to see the wits of an 11 year old in an old fart of 57...

Maybe you should get a clue. No one can do anything about when the forum places there posts.

Quiet you! It's more fun to play with the newbies.

Hey, the smell isn't that bad... y'know, they love the smell so much they made it into a condom flavor!

It smells like jackfruit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit), only that the smell is stronger. The candy tastes nice, have no idea what the fruit tastes like.

They [bananas] smell like chalk over there [Europe], those miserable things picked green and carried on a bunch of ice in junks with paper sails down the river to the harbour and unloaded into frozen compartments to be taken on a 2 week trip.
I hear they put calcium carbide on it for it to turn yellow and ripen...

Hahahaha

It's so refreshing to see the wits of an 11 year old in an old fart of 57...

Oh my, I do hope that wasn't your opening salvo in a battle of wits, if so you're woefully under-equipped for a place such as this.

ditto.

A cutting retort. I am grievously wounded! My poor delicate ego! I shall not go quietly into the night!

Hahahaha

It's so refreshing to see the wits of an 11 year old [...] .
[...]salvo in a battle of wits, if so you're woefully under-equipped [...].

ditto.

Anyway, ... durian.
You say you are in South East Asia.. what country? Thailand?

Anyway, ... durian.

ferocious, would you kindly correct your clock so that you do not "steal" other people's threads or would it be too much to ask someone like you?I, for one, welcome you to teh intarwebs.

And I do not know what Durian is.

And I don't know what intarwebs are. Come to think of it, I don't think I care to learn.

But thanks for welcoming me ... wherever.

Durian you can google and get some vague idea about,. but you really have to try it -- and in South East Asia.

---

Not Thailand. Beautiful, but wages too low.

And I don't know what intarwebs are. Come to think of it, I don't think I care to learn.

But thanks for welcoming me ... wherever.
Teh intarwebs are a subdivision the Internet invented by Al Gore where all insane people are kept. They get magically drawn to it, like ants to lights.

Ha, you learned it.:D

Not Thailand. Beautiful, but wages too low.
Singapore?

And would durian in America taste different from that in Southeast Asia?

I, for one, welcome you to teh intarwebs.

And I do not know what Durian is.

It's a spikey fruit, green in color, with a famously foul stench which varies by cultivar and region, as well as relative freshness. I saw it on a travel channel show where this idiot goes around eating bizarre and horrifying things. He couldn't choke it down fresh off the tree.

It's supposedly quite good though, if you have no sense of smell. Since most of what we identify as taste is actually smell I find the idea of an offensively rank fruit being delicious as somewhat suspect.

And would durian in America taste different from that in Southeast Asia?

Yes, as I already said: it would taste very different.

As would bananas, mango -- everything...

Compare it to picking ripe apples in an orchard on a hill overlooking the Pacific and going to Safeway to buy those wax covered things beautiful to the eye that taste like papier-mâché.

Yes, as I already said: it would taste very different.

As would bananas, mango -- everything...

Compare it to picking ripe apples in an orchard on a hill overlooking the Pacific and going to Safeway to buy those wax covered things beautiful to the eye that taste like papier-mâché.

Depends on the fruit, some ships well, some don't. Watermelons in stores taste lousy 'cause they've been bred for thicker hulls to ship better. Apples, orange, plums, peaches, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, grapes, they all taste the same either way, aside from normal variation. Tomatoes ship very badly, always taste like cardboard.

Don't generalize all store bought produce based upon a few examples. There's plenty that are just as good as fresh. Incidentally a store bought apple can be upwards of a year off the tree. Not that you'd ever tell.

It's a spikey fruit, green in color, with a famously foul stench which varies by cultivar and region, as well as relative freshness. I saw it on a travel channel show where this idiot goes around eating bizarre and horrifying things. He couldn't choke it down fresh off the tree.

It's supposedly quite good though, if you have no sense of smell. Since most of what we identify as taste is actually smell I find the idea of an offensively rank fruit being delicious as somewhat suspect.
Thank you for the education, though I already Googled it.:p

It looks like a pineapple on steroids.

Yes, as I already said: it would taste very different.

As would bananas, mango -- everything...

Compare it to picking ripe apples in an orchard on a hill overlooking the Pacific and going to Safeway to buy those wax covered things beautiful to the eye that taste like papier-mâché.
Meh. Never knew what would durian taste in America. We love mangoes. We eat them unripe, ripe, dried, jellied, in a shake, whatever... I hear mangoes are considered an exotic fruit in America?

Meh. Never knew what would durian taste in America. We love mangoes. We eat them unripe, ripe, dried, jellied, in a shake, whatever... I hear mangoes are considered an exotic fruit in America?

Well, they are "exotic" in America and Europe because they do not grow locally: "exo-" means "from the outside". (Some people grow mango in California, but I don't think it's commercial, probably in glasshouses.)

I don't like pickled mangoes, and green I could use only a few slices in a fish stew, but I enjoy April/May/June when fresh mangoes are in season here.

Well, they are "exotic" in America and Europe because they do not grow locally: "exo-" means "from the outside". (Some people grow mango in California, but I don't think it's commercial, probably in glasshouses.)

I don't like pickled mangoes, and green I could use only a few slices in a fish stew, but I enjoy April/May/June when fresh mangoes are in season here.
Ah, those pickled mangoes! With what we call bagoong. (though simple salt would suffice) Yes it's popular here, but I don't eat sour mangoes. I like mine sweet and ripe.

Just the same, kiwi fruits, cherries, and apricots are exotic here...

A person who can read can see clearly who started the thread on the list of threads.

Hehehe, that would be Ferrous.:p

Yes, it has been updated to that fake claim now.

Which is pathetic really.

You can only say it's fake if you can prove he's not heard that. That's kind of a nebulous thing to prove. He didn't claim it tasted like shit, only that he'd heard that.

Yes, it has been updated to that fake claim now.

Which is pathetic really.

Just the same, kiwi fruits, cherries, and apricots are exotic here...

I assume you are in South East Asia too? Or South Asia? I've been here for three years and it's been an interesting experience.

I assume you are in South East Asia too? Or South Asia? I've been here for three years and it's been an interesting experience.
Southeast Asia. The Philippines.

(and we're still both awake in this wee hours!)

BTW, here, sometimes posts can appear in a deranged order. So sometimes your reply can appear before post you are replying to, folks call it a time warp. But when it happens to the OP, it's a thread steal. We've got a few interesting examples, and sometimes four replies can appear before the real OP. ;) It's the problem of Jolt, I assure you it is usually unintentional.

Oh, I don't care,

it just looks stupid when the "reply"

(or in some "discussants" case a display of their obsession with fecal matter)

appears before the post they "reply" to.

Ah... Philippines. I was planning to come last week, but I had to change my plans due to unforeseeable circumstances and now I have to wait for 3 months. :mad:

Oh, I don't care,

it just looks stupid when the "reply"

(or in some "discussants" case a display of their obsession with fecal matter)

appears before the post they "reply" to.

Ah... Philippines. I was planning to come last week, but I had to change my plans due to unforeseeable circumstances and now I have to wait for 3 months. :mad:
Chill. ;) Here, have some turon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turr%C3%B3n_%28Filipino_cuisine%29). It has jackfruit and banana in it.

Hope you'll enjoy your visit. You do seem to travel a lot.

Durian is delicious! As a kid, I would never have let myself get to eat it because of the smell but the smell isn't even that bad. It's not like a fecal or rotting smell, but it's just different.

The taste can be described as creamy, rich, and smooth. There really isn't another taste that is similar to it either. The experience is really good and I say everyone should try it for themselves and they probably won't be disappointed.

Durian smoothies FTW.

Well, I am probably older than you, and I live in Southern China now. Before I lived in Europe and then in North America.

Turron, yes, it sounds good. I cannot wait.

Well, I am probably older than you, and I live in Southern China now. Before I lived in Europe and then in North America.

Turron, yes, it sounds good. I cannot wait.
Well then, would you be trying balut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut) too? Personally I don't eat it, and if you're trying it, remember to add salt on it, or else...

Durian is delicious! As a kid, I would never have let myself get to eat it because of the smell but the smell isn't even that bad. It's not like a fecal or rotting smell, but it's just different.

The taste can be described as creamy, rich, and smooth. There really isn't another taste that is similar to it either. The experience is really good and I say everyone should try it for themselves and they probably won't be disappointed.
Welcome to NSG, Senfor. And I agree, it doesn't smell like feces. For me it smelled like strong jackfruit. But once the smell is overcome, then the joy can begin.

And probably I should go off to bed now... I'm starting use the incorrect words and I might type in something weirdly funny... :p

I love Durian, especially frozen. It's like custard and it is absolutely divine. It smells like broccoli and garlic though, so yeah, some people object to the odour.

Well then, would you be trying balut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut) too? Personally I don't eat it, and if you're trying it, remember to add salt on it, or else...

No, I barely ever eat normal eggs (like once every two years or so), let alone that thing.

Ever since actually coming into contact with Durian, I can't understand why ppl say it smells so atrocious.
I think the smell's great - like a yard full of apples lying on the ground. Sure, there's a little touch of unpleasantness registering at the higher olfactory senses, but overall there's a heavy, hearty organic substance to the scent. A scent so potent you could almost cut slabs off it and take it home.

So yeah, I like it.

Breadfruit is really nice too.

Well, I am probably older than you, and I live in Southern China now. Before I lived in Europe and then in North America.

Turron, yes, it sounds good. I cannot wait.
Where in Southern China do you live, if I may be so bold?

Well then, would you be trying balut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut) too? Personally I don't eat it, and if you're trying it, remember to add salt on it, or else...



That has to be one of the most horrid foods in the Philippines. I have heard from Filipinos that they actually bury those eggs in the ground for a couple weeks before they eat them. Why this sounds like a good meal I will never understand.

Especially if you know how to get one that is just ripe, but not yet over-ripe.

When it falls off the tree. That's when you know it's ripe. It makes being in a durian orchard a bit of a hazard during the season though.

:upyours:

One of my old Burning Man campmates had an iron digestive tract and a rather sick sense of culinary humour. He slipped us an Indian tea with three kinds of salt that tasted like cinnamon-infused seawater. :gundge: Durian was one of his favourite modus operandi.

Not only does durian smell like my grandmother's old inbred poodle piss, it can actually kill you.

The fruit is heavy, spikey, and so valuable that they post guards around the tree when it's ripening. Occasionally a ripe fruit will fall and brain one of the guards.

Ick. What a stupid and sickening way to die. :eek:

The fruit is heavy, spikey, and so valuable that they post guards around the tree when it's ripening. Occasionally a ripe fruit will fall and brain one of the guards.

Having been around quite a few durian orchards, I can honestly say that you're blatantly lying. There aren't any guards in durian orchards. Particularly under the trees themselves. The orchard tenders deal with the occasional thief.

As for valuable, for a fruit, maybe. But there's plenty of times when they go on the open market for a handful of dollars.

It's very edible BUT the smell is so strong, it's worse smelling than a dead rat.

I've had durian fruit ice lollies, durian fruit smoothies and straight up durian fruit and I can categorically say it's one of the worst things I've ever eaten. Even our Vietnamese guides hated the fruit. Didn't matter where we were, how fresh it was (we had it picked off the trees a couple of times) or who we ate it with, it was always shit. Ebil.

I've had durian fruit ice lollies, durian fruit smoothies and straight up durian fruit and I can categorically say it's one of the worst things I've ever eaten. Even our Vietnamese guides hated the fruit. Didn't matter where we were, how fresh it was (we had it picked off the trees a couple of times) or who we ate it with, it was always shit. Ebil.

Ah, I see: "it was always shit" and yet you kept eating it because you like eating shit, or what?

BTW, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia are the countries for durian. Vietnam's durian is not exactly as good.

And if someone is introducing you to something weird that he hates (like your Viet guides), is it highly probable that you would come to like it? Anyway...

So I go downstairs to get a drink. I go near the kitchen. What the fuck is that smell. I go into the kitchen. It stinks like shit. What the hell is that. There it is. I see it. A fucking durian.

MY DAD BROUGHT A FUCKING DURIAN INTO THE HOUSE. AGAIN. FUCK.

I've never tasted it because when I go within half a metre of one I feel like being sick.

So I go downstairs to get a drink. I go near the kitchen. What the fuck is that smell. I go into the kitchen. It stinks like shit. What the hell is that. There it is. I see it. A fucking durian.

MY DAD BROUGHT A FUCKING DURIAN INTO THE HOUSE. AGAIN. FUCK.

I've never tasted it because when I go within half a metre of one I feel like being sick.

Give my regards to your father, who obviously has a refined taste.

Perhaps you too will acquire it in time... :rolleyes:

Do you like durian?

All the way up to "A View To A Kill". After that, apart from "Ordinary World", it was all downhill.

Give my regards to your father, who obviously has a refined taste.

Perhaps you too will acquire it in time... :rolleyes:

Please change your clock or something so that you stop posting your chronologically challenged material higher on the list than the posts that came earlier.

Ah, I see: "it was always shit" and yet you kept eating it because you like eating shit, or what?

BTW, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia are the countries for durian. Vietnam's durian is not exactly as good.

And if someone is introducing you to something weird that he hates (like your Viet guides), is it highly probable that you would come to like it? Anyway...Yes, I ate it on several different occasions. Unsurprisingly, people say things like "oh, it always tastes bad there but ours is the best!" and, being on holiday in a place where everything costs fuck all, I'm quite willing to try something again for 5p. Incidentally, I love eating shit. It's one of my favourite past times, being a faecophile and all. Yum.

I had it in Thailand as well and, lo and behold, that was yet another time it tasted like crap. I'll also point out that I was given a durian smoothie under the false pretence that it was mango. Not one to appear impolite I finished it, trying not to openly gag.

Finally, you should know a couple of things. Firstly, our Vietnamese guides didn't tell us they hated it beforehand - we found out after when they all refused to eat it. Secondly, I'm mysteriously not so weak-willed as to hate something merely because someone tells me to do so. My tastebuds and olfactory system are quite adept at picking things I like and things I don't.

However, maybe you're right. Thinking back on it, maybe that deep sense of loathing I developed for the spiky satan fruit was entirely misplaced. Perhaps I should be objective about a subject that is entirely subjective just so as to avoid apparently offending you about something as trivial as personal tastes. Or maybe, just maybe, you should try thinking about what you're getting pissy about before you post. Calm down, it's only fruit.

Please change your clock or something so that you stop posting your chronologically challenged material higher on the list than the posts that came earlier.

*smacks on nose with rolled up newspaper*

no play nice.

*smacks on nose with rolled up newspaper*

no play nice.

Sorry, don't know what came over me. Must have been channeling or something.

Sorry, don't know what came over me. Must have been channeling or something.

Its okay. I'm just in an extremely nice and giving mood because I just got 4 boxes of fresh apple cider doughnuts and doughnut holes :)

*slips a few to GnI*

the most disgusting thing ever. It's one of those foods that is actually a dare that the locals tell tourists is a delicacy like sheep's eyeballs or cow's testicles.

From what I read on Wikipedia, it sounds like some universal drug for all animals...

http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/kitchen/2002fa_durian.html

Never tried it yet, but what the heck? I've tried horned melon and that was pretty good despite the horror stories.

Its okay. I'm just in an extremely nice and giving mood because I just got 4 boxes of fresh apple cider doughnuts and doughnut holes :)

*slips a few to GnI*

Ah man... apple cider doughnuts.... *Homer-style droolin*

It's an acquired taste, my mother and grandmother eat Durian - my father and I don't.

I can't remember whether I liked durian or not. I know I really liked one of the spiky melons I ate in the Philippines, but there were a few of them (durian, marang, and a couple more, I think).

People do love it, though. The 20-foot-high bronze durian statue you see on the way out of the main airport in Davao (east Mindanao) is pretty good evidence of that.

I can't remember whether I liked durian or not. I know I really liked one of the spiky melons I ate in the Philippines, but there were a few of them (durian, marang, and a couple more, I think).

People do love it, though. The 20-foot-high bronze durian statue you see on the way out of the main airport in Davao (east Mindanao) is pretty good evidence of that.

It's a love or hate relation ... honestly, when someone brings out a Durian - the fly population increases by 1000%.

It's a love or hate relation ... honestly, when someone brings out a Durian - the fly population increases by 1000%.

Yeah, I've noticed that. Especially, for some reason, when visiting 99 Ranch Market here in California, which stock them either too ripe or not ripe enough. They're just a bit too expensive here to find out definitively.

Having been around quite a few durian orchards, I can honestly say that you're blatantly lying.

"blatantly lying?" That's a bit strong, wouldn't you think?

Try "honest mistake after misinformation." Unless you can convincingly prove your experience and credentials. The anonymity of the Internet, after all...'tis both a blessing and a curse.

One thing I do know for sure, is that bus lines in the Philippines ban ripe durian fruit from their buses. Got it from someone who came from there. He went out to buy it in the morning and walked home with it because he couldn't get on a bus.

There's currently some "frozen" Durian in the freezer. Most fruit we freeze loses it's smell, but not Durian! It still smells after being frozen (OK, much reduced smelll but it's still there)

Yes, I ate it on several different occasions. Unsurprisingly, people say things like "oh, it always tastes bad there but ours is the best!" and, being on holiday in a place where everything costs fuck all, I'm quite willing to try something again for 5p. Incidentally, I love eating shit. It's one of my favourite past times, being a faecophile and all. Yum.

Don't get me wrong. I was never going to object to your own personal predilection for coprophagia, but kindly do bear in mind that it is rather weird -- to say the least -- for most people the world over.

I had it in Thailand as well and, lo and behold, that was yet another time it tasted like crap. I'll also point out that I was given a durian smoothie under the false pretence that it was mango. Not one to appear impolite I finished it, trying not to openly gag.

As I said: durian. That's what we are discussing. NOT "durian smoothie", and especially not ünder false pretence". There is a significant difference between raw and cooked (see Claude Levy-Strauss).

Finally, you should know a couple of things.

Oh, you think I should do something, now don't you? That is rather outrageous of you. It is my choice alone what I shall and shall not choose to know. I may hear your case, or may refuise to hear it. It is completely up ro my whim.

Firstly, our Vietnamese guides didn't tell us they hated it beforehand - we found out after when they all refused to eat it. Secondly, I'm mysteriously not so weak-willed as to hate something merely because someone tells me to do so. My tastebuds and olfactory system are quite adept at picking things I like and things I don't.

However, maybe you're right. Thinking back on it, maybe that deep sense of loathing I developed for the spiky satan fruit was entirely misplaced.

Your point being: "spoiled food does not taste nice", right? It may be spoiled durian, rotten meat, overburnt toast, coffee to which you accidently added yoghurt instead of milk/cream etc. OK, I take your point.

Perhaps I should be objective about a subject that is entirely subjective just so as to avoid apparently offending you about something as trivial as personal tastes.

Not in the least. But perhaps you should not get so easily offended when people point out to your own personal claims: a) that your "tastebuds and olfactory system are quite adept at picking things [you] like and things [you] don't" and b) it tasted like shit and you kept eating it?

Or maybe, just maybe, you should try thinking about what you're getting pissy about before you post. Calm down, it's only fruit.

"pissy" is another of your prefered qualificatives, second only to "crap", "tastes like shit" etc. Does that tell you something about the communication problem you have? Maybe you should try wearing diapers?

That has to be one of the most horrid foods in the Philippines. I have heard from Filipinos that they actually bury those eggs in the ground for a couple weeks before they eat them. Why this sounds like a good meal I will never understand.
Actually they're just incubated duck eggs. I don't know about burying them on the ground, but it sounds awfully like the century egg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg).